Hongkongers Protest Extradition

Some 130,000 came out today to protest plans for controversial extradition bill

Heartened to see over 100,000 people turn out to protest against the Hong Kong government's plan to push through the extradition bill that would have suspects sent to countries the city had agreements with, including China, Taiwan and Macau.

Critics fear it gives Beijing more authority over Hong Kong, that it could target political activists, lead to forced confessions and arbitrary detentions, and if someone is extradited to the mainland, many of us know China's "rule of law" is different from what it is in Hong Kong and Taiwan.

This afternoon some 130,000 showed up -- the largest since the estimated 510,000 during the annual July 1 protest in 2014. The police claimed otherwise, saying 22,800 were in the march.

Many fear what the government has in mind for extradition

This is ridiculous from the pictures taken by the media, especially overhead. People who arrived late at Causeway Bay had to wait two hours before they could start the 2.2km march and the did so patiently.

The march was timed just before the sentencing of Chan Tong-kai, who brutally murdered his girlfriend in Taiwan last year, but because there is no extradition agreement between Hong Kong and Taiwan, he cannot be tried there.

The Hong Kong government used this horrific crime as an argument for the extradition bill and get the public on side, but today showed people thought otherwise.

Some who spoke to the media felt the government has become more like a dictatorship and not listening to the people, calling for Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor to step down, while others felt it was important to voice their opinion about the matter for the sake of their children's futures.

The march also protested the jailing of four Occupy leaders

Many of the protesters also carried yellow umbrellas, symbolic of the Occupy protest leaders who were sent to jail earlier this week: Benny Tai Yiu-ting, Dr Chan Kin-man, lawmaker Shiu Ka-chun and League of Social Democrats vice-chairman Raphael Wong Ho-ming.

It's disappointing to see acting chief executive Matthew Cheung Kin-chung dismiss today's protest march, basically saying the government would not be swayed by the turnout.

He said people enjoyed freedom of speech and assembly and the right to stage protests.

"But it has to be conducted in a lawful manner. Whether the turnout is big or small is not the main concern," he said.

A mock jailing with batons was acted out by at the march

Cheung dismissed concerns about the possible abuse of the proposed extradition bill, saying it would not apply to cases involving human rights, politics or capital punishment.

The government has promised it would consider each case carefully, saying the executive authority and the court would perform their respective gatekeeping roles in handling all surrender requests. It said it would reject any surrender request that did not meet legal requirements.

May we remind the government how Beijing punished dissident artist Ai Weiwei, claiming he did not pay his taxes? And then felt it had the right to just destroy his studio in Bejiing without warning?

And the same could be said for Liu Xia, the wife of Liu Xiaobo; her brother was convicted on trumped up charges of fraud and sentenced to 11 years in jail and was later released.

How can we trust the Hong Kong government will not do the same?